Certified quick response codes associated with top-level domains verified by trusted product certificate authority

ABSTRACT

A Certified Quick Response Code (“CQR”) is associated with a trusted Product Certificate Authority (“PCA”), which in turn is associated with a unique top-level domain (“TLD”). A CQR affixed to a product may point to a URL comprising the unique TLD. A consumer may know by virtue of the association of the TLD with the PCA that the product is legitimate, while a product manufacturer can better monitor counterfeit goods by further associating each CQR with a universal unique identifier.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/793,209, filed Jan. 16, 2019, and entitled “Certified QuickResponse Codes Associated with Top-Level Domains Verified by TrustProtect Certificate Authority.” The contents of that application arerelied on and incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention relates to certified Quick Response codesassociated with top-level domains verified by a trusted productcertificate authority.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Counterfeit, stolen, and diverted/gray market components and goods costthe economy approximately one dollar per day for every person on Earth.Counterfeit goods adversely impact brand reputations, hurt consumers,cause critical system failures, and fuel organized crime. Sophisticatedcounterfeiting techniques include unauthorized production overruns onthe gray market from authorized contract manufacturers, full-devicereverse engineering and reproduction in unauthorized factories, supplychain interdiction, and parts recycling and remarking. In short,consumer and manufacturer confidence in the authenticity of productsbought and sold are at all-time lows.

Additionally, many products sold today bear on their labelstwo-dimensional barcodes, such as Quick Response codes (“QR codes”). QRcodes are routinely scanned by consumers with smart devices that havecameras, or other QR code readers. QR codes have a number of importantuses, such as enabling payment, simplifying website login procedures, oreven marking gravestones. Consumers have been conditioned to scan QRcodes without giving the QR codes a second thought.

This is problematic because QR codes may also point to a specific URL,such as the website of a product on which a QR code is affixed. Acounterfeiter or other bad actor may modify the QR code on the productlabel to point the scanner to a URL that leads to a website containingmalware. In addition to harming the consumer, this may harm themanufacturer of the product by denigrating its reputation andpotentially sending representatives of the manufacturer to the samemalware-infested website.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Accordingly, what is needed is a trusted QR code label that may alsoassist in counteracting counterfeiters. The present invention providesCertified QR Codes (“CQRs”). Product labels may contain a CQR thatpoints to a website with a unique top-level domain (“TLD”) associatedwith a trusted Product Certificate Authority (“PCA”). The PCA may createa unique URL for each product containing a CQR, thus allowing forindividualized tracking of products. At the same time, by virtue of theassociation with the PCA, a consumer may trust a URL obtained from ascanned CQR.

Thus, the PCA, through its TLD, becomes the trusted gatekeeper tolegitimate product communication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute partof this specification, illustrate some embodiments of the disclosureand, together with the description, serve to explain the principles ofthe disclosure:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary CQR.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of a method fordetecting counterfeiting using CQRs comprising URLs with TLDs associatedwith PCAs.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary URL in accordance with the presentmethod.

In the following sections, detailed descriptions of examples and methodsof the disclosure will be given. The description of both preferred andalternative examples, though thorough, are exemplary only. It isunderstood to those skilled in the art that variations, modifications,and alterations may be apparent. It is therefore to be understood thatthe examples do not limit the broadness of the aspects of the underlyingdisclosure as defined by the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides generally for apparatus, methods andsystems for affixing unique CQRs to respective products and associatingthe unique CQR with a certified top-level domain associated with a PCAto establish a system of trusted product communications and counterfeittracking. The PCA may provide a unique TLD to ensure a consumer scanninga CQR that the consumer is, in fact, scanning a CQR (instead of atraditional QR code) and thus may trust the URL at the other end of theCQR. Note that this disclosure may describe CQRs as being part of (orthe entirety of) a two-dimensional barcode; however, one schooled in theart will understand that the present disclosure applies with equalefficacy to three-dimensional barcodes.

In some embodiments, an incentive is provided to a user (such as ashopper) to scan a CQR. The incentive may include an artifact, such as adiscount, a coupon, product specifications, product user manual or otherCQR-specific information. Where previous product labels would use thesame label design and label content for multiple disparate labels andtherefore multiple disparate product units, the present inventionprovides for a unique label design and label content for each label andtherefore each product unit.

A unique label on each product unit enables many useful advantages overmore generic labeling systems. One advantage is that when a user scans aCQR and contacts an associated URL, an app on the user's smart devicemay send to the URL not only the CQR information, but also a time, dateand location of a scan. In this manner, the present system includesinherent capabilities to ascertain the authenticity of a product at aquantified location as captured at a recorded time and date. Previoussystems simply did not have the capability to provide such service.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a system in accordance with the presentdisclosure is shown. Consumer 110 may be interested in product 101.Product 101 may have a label with CQR 100 affixed to the label. In someembodiments, CQR 100 is unique to the particular product 101 (thusgiving product 101 a unique label), while in other embodiments, CQR 100may correspond to more than one manufactured version of the same product(e.g., all 20 ounce bottles of a particular brand of mayonnaise) or evento all products manufactured by a manufacturer (e.g., all mayonnaisemanufactured by a particular manufacturer). CQR 100 may be a standard QRcode (made unique by reference to a specialized, PCA-approved TLD, asdescribed below) generated using known QR code-generating processes.Consumer 110 may scan CQR 100 with a scanner 111. Scanner 111 may be asmart device, such as a smart phone, or any other device comprising animage capture apparatus and in logical connection with a communicationsnetwork 120 such as the Internet.

Unlike traditional QR codes, the URL associated with the CQR 100 maycomprise a TLD associated with a trusted PCA. The PCA may be anyorganization, standards board, corporation, or other entity that usersand manufacturers can agree is sufficiently trustworthy. Upon scanningCQR 100, scanner 111 can engage in communication with server 130 via acommunications network 120. Server 130 receives the requested URL(which, as described later, may provide server 130 with additionalinformation) and may return an artifact, such as a coupon or productspecifications.

Suppose the PCA is a large, multi-national company trusted by mostconsumers in commerce. The PCA may create a unique TLD associated withit. For example, the TLD may be .PCA, or be based on the name of the PCA(e.g., if the PCA is LocatorX, Inc., then the TLD may be .lctrx). By wayof example, suppose Olive Oil Co. (“OOC”) decides to address acounterfeit olive oil problem. OOC may contract with the PCA for theright to use the PCA's TLD. OOC may then have the right to affix CQRssuch as CQR 100 on its olive oil bottles. In some embodiments, CQR 100may simply point to a domain name like http://oliveoilco.pca. That theURL ends in .pca may assure the scanning consumer 110 that the scannedbottle of OOC olive oil is the genuine article. In some embodiments, theTLD may be a pseudo-domain, such as the one formerly used for Torservices. In some embodiments using pseudo-domains, a CQR scanner may beoperable to interface with a network other than the Internet or theWorld Wide Web through a gateway. Such an embodiment may be desirable toadd extra security features that may not be available through thepublicly accessible Internet.

In some embodiments, each individual product may have a unique universalidentifier (“UUID”) associated with it. The UUID may be generated by theOpen Software Foundation or other trusted UUID generator. The UUID maycomprise a global trade item number (known in the art as a “GTIN”).Accordingly, a CQR 100 may point to a more individualized URL for theparticular product label scanned; for example, the CQR 100 may point tothe URL oliveoilco.pca/UUID. In other embodiments, a hash code may begenerated in addition to or instead of the UUID. Thus, the CQR 100 maypoint to oliveoilco.pca/hash or oliveoilco.pca/UUID&hash. Additionally,the URL and/or CQR 100 may comprise public-private key infrastructure(known in the art as “PKI”) information, such as a certificationauthentication information.

In further embodiments, the CQR 100 may have an additional dynamic valuebased on some characteristic of the consumer or product. For example,CQR 100 may point to oliveoilco.pca/UUID&hash&GPS_Location. While theUUID or hash may be encoded in the CQR 100 itself, a GPS_Location valuemay be based upon a GPS location of scanner 111 or an associated smartdevice. This may assist manufacturers in determining authenticity ofproducts being offered for sale at a given location. It may also assistin locating counterfeit products because server 130 receives the GPSlocation of scanner 111 through an CQR scanner's transmission to theURL. And it may, in some embodiments, provide assurances to theend-user, as the dynamic values may provide data regarding the number oftimes the CQR has been scanned.

For illustration purposes, and by way of non-limiting example, if twobottles of a product item, such as olive oil, with a same UUID arescanned within a short timeframe at respective locations of considerabledistance from each other, such as at opposite corners of a country, thenthe manufacturer may be able to infer that at least one of those bottlesis a counterfeit. By having the benefit of the additional informationencoded in the URL from a GPS Location value, the manufacturer maylocate the counterfeit bottles. A GPS Location with an extensive historyof potentially counterfeit products may warrant additionalinvestigation. The website corresponding to the URL on the CQR 100 mayalso request the GPS location directly from the consumer's scanner 111or retrieve the location of scanner 111 through image metadata, such asEXIF metadata. Similarly, even a single bottle of oil with anunrecognized UUID, or no UUID, may be flagged as unauthentic. Moreover,combining these inauthenticity data points in the aggregate may assistmanufacturers in determining weaknesses in a supply chain, locations ofcommon counterfeiters, and the like.

In some embodiments, each CQR 100 is a unique label for each product101. Accordingly, a PCA may validate a manufacturer's domain name andprovenance prior to creating CQRs to affix to the products. Again, theend-user (e.g., shopper) may have increased confidence in theauthenticity of the product by virtue of the reference to the PCA.

In some embodiments, a CQR may include one half of a public/private keyor other form of cryptography. Public-key cryptography, or asymmetriccryptography, may be utilized in conjunction with a CQR as acryptographic system that uses pairs of keys (public keys) which, areknown only to the owner and may be included, for example within the CQRcode. Public keys may be indicative of, or otherwise associated withcertified TLD. The generation of such keys may be based uponcryptographic algorithms or otherwise associated with mathematicalproblems to produce one-way functions. Since effective security requireskeeping a private key private; the private key may be encoded into a CQRand not readily ascertainable to a user. In some embodiments, theprivate key may be sent to the end-user by another method, such as anapp. The public key indicative of or otherwise associated with the TLDmay be openly distributed without compromising security.

In such a system, a manufacturer can encrypt a product label using thePCA's public key to ascertain the TLD, and also include an encryptedlabel portion that can be decrypted via a contacted URL recognizingprivate key also included in the label. Conversely, the private key maybe used by the PCA to “sign” the CQR, and the end-user's public key maybe used to verify authenticity.

Accordingly, the present invention teaches how a TLD may become atrusted gatekeeper to legitimate product information and also be arecipient of data indicative of fraudulent or otherwise unauthenticproducts on the market. By linking the TLDs with the PCA through theCQRs, more trusted commerce may occur.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an exemplary CQR is shown. CQR 200 points tothe URL http://www.locatorx.pca. The TLD of this URL is .pca, which isassociated with a trusted PCA. As described above, in some embodiments,the TLD may be based on the name of the particular PCA, such as .lctrx.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an exemplary method for tracking a productusing the described CQRs is shown. At step 301, a CQR is generated. TheCQR may be unique to the particular product being tracked (e.g., aparticular bottle of olive oil), or to all products in a particular line(e.g., all 20 ounce bottles of OOC-brand mild olive oil). The CQRcomprises an encoded URL that is decoded by a scanner, such as a smartdevice, that is capable of reading CQRs and is in logical connectionwith a communications network. The encoded URL comprises a protocolidentifier (e.g., http://), a resource name (e.g., oliveoilco), and aTLD associated with a PCA (e.g., .pca or .lctrx). In some embodiments,the CQR further comprises a UUID, such as a GTIN. In some embodiments,the UUID is associated with a manufacturer's website. The CQR may bebased on individualized certifications of a given product by the PCA, orthe PCA may assign a batch of certifications to a series of CQRs.

At step 302, the two-dimensional barcode with the CQR is affixed to aproduct. The two-dimensional barcode may be printed concurrently withthe product label or may be affixed subsequent to the printing of theproduct label.

At step 303, a request to access an artifact located on a server isreceived by the server in logical connection with a communicationsnetwork. This request may occur when a consumer attempts to access theURL encoded on the CQR through the communications network. The artifactmay be one or more of: a coupon, product specifications, or a productverification. The artifact requested from and/or sent by the server maybe based on the URL encoded in the CQR. For example, a manufacturermight limit a coupon to only certain UUIDs. Alternatively, a hash mayindicate a particular line of products (e.g., 20 ounce bottles of oliveoil), and the corresponding transmitted product specifications (e.g.,nutrition facts) may be based on that particular line of products.

Included in the request may be one or more geographic indices. Forexample, if the request is transmitted using a CQR scanning application(including a smart phone camera device, dedicated quick response codescanner, and the like), then image data associated with the scan mayinclude metadata indicative of a geographical location. For example, theimage data may include EXIF data or GPS coordinates. In such anembodiment, the geographic indices may be transmitted along with therequest.

The server may associate a time index with the request. The server mayalso associate a geographic index with the request. Accordingly, theserver may begin to populate a database in which, for each uniqueidentifier (e.g., GTIN), a list of one or more times a CQR associatedwith the unique identifier has been scanned is logged. This may allowthe server to track the movement of the product associated with theunique identifier through commerce. This may assist in detectingcounterfeiting efforts. For example, if the log shows that a CQR hasbeen scanned (i.e., the server has received artifact requests for) inMaine at time t=0, and then at time t=5 seconds, the CQR has beenscanned in Arizona, then this may indicate counterfeiting. Such asituation would suggest that the CQR has been copied by a counterfeiterwho is duplicating labels. In the aggregate, such disparities may showweaknesses in a supply chain, help identify counterfeiters, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary method of detecting counterfeitingusing TLDs as accessed through CQRs is shown. At step 401, a commerceitem, such as a manufactured good, to be protected is identified. Inexemplary embodiments, the commerce item may be a product intended totravel through commerce. The commerce item may be one that issusceptible to counterfeiting. For example, olive oil is a frequenttarget of counterfeiters because of the ease of deploying a substitutegood (i.e., counterfeit olive oil) and deployed labels that may be easyto remove and copy. Similarly, jewelry, apparel, and pharmaceuticals maybe targeted for similar reasons. In exemplary embodiments, theidentified product may be one that is produced in a large batch, suchthat its labels are also produced in large batches. (Again, olive oil isa good, but not limiting, example of a batch-produced, batch-labeledproduct.)

At step 402, a unique identifier is generated that may serve as anauthenticity qualifier. The unique identifier may carry some relation toa finite number of related products. For example, the unique identifiercould include or be related to any of: a production run identifier, lotnumber, date (including an expiration date), quality control identifier,location of manufacture, manufacturer line, work shift manufactured,licensed area of sale, and the like. The unique identifier may alsocontain a relation to a global tracking ID number (i.e., a GTIN).Because it may be desirable to encode additional information into theunique identifier beyond just a GTIN, the unique identifier may, in someembodiments, include several concatenated identifiers. For example, abottle of olive oil manufactured during production run 3/100, expiringon Jan. 1, 2025, and having GTIN 12345678 may have unique identifiernumber 00301012512345678 (i.e., a concatenation of 003 (production run),010125 (expiration date), and 12345678 (GTIN)).

At step 403, a trusted TLD may be associated with product verificationcredentials. As stated elsewhere, the TLD may be verified by a PCA. TheTLD may reflect the name of the PCA. The PCA may assist in generatinglabels for the commerce item and in verifying the accuracy of a URLencoded in a CQR. Product verification credentials may include any ofthe components of the unique identifier generated at step 402, alongwith a log tracking the progress in commerce and scans related to thecommerce item.

At step 404, the TLD of the PCA is associated with URL components.Referring briefly to FIG. 5, a URL typically comprises a protocolidentifier, a domain name 501, and a top-level domain 502. In someembodiments, the URL will further include path 503. A URL may alsocomprise additional information 505 relating to database queries 504 orlocations in the database, such as queries 506, 507 (typically precededby a question mark after a path name and linked to other queries withampersands) and hashes 508. These variables may assist in theauthentication process. Some of these queries and hashes may bepre-encoded on the label where they relate to information specific tothe product (e.g., unique identifier). Other queries and hashes may begenerated by virtue of a scan of the CQR, and appended to the URL, andtransmitted to the server, where those queries and hashes relate to thescan itself (e.g., time stamp or GPS location).

Referring back to FIG. 4, at step 405, URL components are populated withunique identifier information. For example, a server receiving a queryfrom a smart device initiated by a scan of a CQR may anticipate in theURL components like unique identifier number, GTIN, lot number, etc.Accordingly, in embodiments in which the unique identifier comprisesonly the GTIN, a URL encoded in a CQR may still transmit otheridentifying information, such as expiration date. For example, a URLencoded on a CQR could beoliveoilco.pca/oliveoil16?GTIN=12345678&lot_number=003. As will bediscussed later, in some embodiments, a CQR scanner may appendadditional information to this URL prior to sending a query tooliveoilco.pca, such as a GPS location.

At step 406, a label is generated for the commerce item. The label mayinclude traditional product information, such as brand name, size of theitem, nutrition facts, etc. But the label will also include a CQR codecomprising the encoded URL referencing the TLD of the PCA. A labelincluding a CQR code may be generated contemporaneously with the productlabel or separately from the product label and attached to the productlabel (or elsewhere on the product).

At step 407, a server may receive a query based upon a scan of the CQRcode by a smart device. In exemplary embodiments, the query will betransmitted through Internet Protocol, but it may also be transmittedtelephonically, by Bluetooth, or through other direct means ofcommunication associated with a smart device identifier (e.g., IPaddress, MAC address, telephone number, device name, etc.). In exemplaryembodiments, then, the query is based on the encoded URL associated withthe CQR code. In some embodiments, additional information may beappended to the encoded URL. For example, the encoded URL may furtherinclude a GPS location associated with the scan by the smart device ofthe CQR. In some embodiments, additional data may be transmitted alongwith the query. For example, in addition to sending a request to theserver via the URL, the smart device may also send an image associatedwith a scan of the CQR. In such an embodiment, metadata associated withthe image may also be recorded as datapoints at the server. For example,metadata may include any of: time of image capture, location of imagecapture, and specifications about the image-capture device (i.e., thesmart phone itself and information about its user).

At step 408, based on the query, the server may transmit to the smartdevice via the smart device identifier a desired artifact. The artifactmay include any of: a coupon, a discount, product specifications,product verification information (for example, as by a uniqueidentifier), a recipe, or other information that a consumer may desirerelating to a product. And at steps 409 and 410, the query is logged,along with a time, date, and location associated with the query, theserver response to the query, the smart device receipt of the query, oraction occurring based on the artifact.

At step 411, the server may compare the logged query with previousqueries associated with the unique identifier associated with thecommerce item. For example, the server may check to see if the sameunique identifier has been queried before. If so, the server may compareattributes between the queries, such as the location, time, andsmart-device identifier associated with the query. A threat ofcounterfeiting may be logged based on threshold differences between theattributes associated with the two queries. For example, if the serverreceives a query associated with an olive oil bottle having GTIN00000001 at 12:00 EST on Jan. 1, 2020 in Florida, and then receives aquery associated with an olive oil bottle having GTIN 00000001 at 12:05EST on Jan. 1, 2020 in Idaho, then there may be a possibility ofcounterfeiting (by, for example, theft and copying of the olive oillabel containing the CQR). This may be determined due the distancebetween the two scans exceeding a threshold distance under a thresholdamount of time. This is merely a non-limiting example of how to use thepresent system to detect counterfeiting; other examples will be plain toone of ordinary skill. As an alternative example, in response to thequery, the server may transmit to the smart device a coupon including aunique identifier associated with the unique identifier of the product.If it is detected that the same coupon is used multiple times, then thatmay also indicate counterfeiting. Similarly, duplicate queries may alsobe indicative of counterfeiting.

At step 412, based on an indication of counterfeiting, the database maygenerate a counterfeit-warning flag and transmit an alert to aninterested party (e.g., the manufacturer, distributor, commerce monitor,law enforcement, relevant consumers, etc.). Moreover, the counterfeitflag may be used to deploy a “honey trap” to provide additional evidencerelating to the identity of the counterfeiters. For example, at optionalstep 413, based on a determination of a potential counterfeit, theoriginally desired artifact may be transmitted to the smart device thatscanned the CQR. If the artifact is a coupon, then the user of the smartdevice may be prompted to enter an email address or other personallyidentifying information to use the coupon. By aggregating informationabout the users of coupons associated with counterfeit flags, weaknessesin the supply chain, vendors aiding counterfeiting, or othervulnerabilities to counterfeiting may be more easily detected.Similarly, if the unique identifier comprises information about apermissible licensed area in which to sell the goods, an artifacttransmitted and used outside that licensed area may also assist incounterfeit detection.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Otherembodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases,the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different orderand still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processes depictedin the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particularorder shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Incertain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may beadvantageous. Nevertheless, it will be understood that variousmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe claimed invention.

Although the present invention has generally been described withreference to the apparatus involved and functionality, the presentinvention also includes associated method steps for bringing thefunctionality described into effect.

The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and arenot meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or theclaims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in apermissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather thanthe mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words“include”, “including”, and “includes” mean including but not limitedto. To facilitate understanding, like reference numerals have been used,where possible, to designate like elements common to the figures.

The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-endedexpressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. Forexample, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at leastone of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B,or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted the terms“comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.

Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented incombination in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitablesub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly, while method steps may be depicted in the drawings in aparticular order, this should not be understood as requiring that suchoperations be performed in the particular order shown or in a sequentialorder, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achievedesirable results.

Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented incombination in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitablesub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodimentsdescribed above should not be understood as requiring such separation inall embodiments, and it should be understood that the described programcomponents and systems can generally be integrated together in a singlesoftware product or packaged into multiple software products.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order show, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallelprocessing may be advantageous. Nevertheless, it will be understood thatvarious modifications may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the claimed disclosure.

In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may beadvantageous. Nevertheless, it will be understood that variousmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe claimed disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for verifying a commerce goodauthenticity, the method comprising the steps of: associating a uniqueidentifier with a commerce good; designating an authenticity qualifierwith the commerce good; associating a product certificate authority withthe authenticity qualifier; generating an internet protocol uniformresource locator comprising a domain name and a top level domain and apath; generating a quick response code (“QR code”) comprising the uniqueidentifier and the domain name and the top level domain and the path;generating a label comprising the QR code; affixing the label comprisinga brand and the QR code to the commerce good; receiving into a computerserver accessible via a communications network, a request to receive anartifact accessible by the computer server, the request comprisingrequest data comprising the unique identifier, the domain name, the toplevel domain, the path, and an information string generated by a smartdevice scanning the QR code affixed to the commerce good; perform acomparison of the request data with historical data from an at least oneprevious request; and verify commerce good authenticity based on thecomparison.
 2. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising the step oftransmitting the artifact via the communications network to the smartdevice scanning the QR code.
 3. The method of claim 2 additionallycomprising the step of receiving into the computer server via theinformation string generated by a smart device, a set of globalpositioning system (GPS) coordinates, a time of scan of the QR code, anda date of scan of the QR code.
 4. The method of claim 2 additionallycomprising the step of generating a log comprising multiple GPScoordinates and time stamps associated with the unique identifier. 5.The method of claim 4, wherein the QR code further comprises a brandassociated with the commerce good.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thepath comprises a product type associated with the brand of the commercegood.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step ofassociating the unique identifier with a website associated with amanufacturer of the commerce good.
 8. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising the steps of: associating the unique identifier and thedomain name and the top level domain with a product certificateauthority and transmitting a certification from the product certificateauthority to the smart device.
 9. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising the steps of receiving an internet protocol address in theinformation string generated by the smart device.
 10. The method ofclaim 7 further comprising the steps of receiving a cellular number inthe information string generated by the smart device.
 11. A commercegood label for verifying authenticity of a commerce good to which thecommerce good label is attached, the commerce good label comprising: aQR code readable from a medium affixed to the commerce good, the QR codecomprising an encoded URL including a protocol identifier, a resourcename, a top-level domain associated with a product certificateauthority; a universally unique identifier associated; a hash value; anda dynamic value, wherein when accessed by at least one computing device,the encoded URL causes the at least one computing device to send arequest comprising request data to a computer server accessible via acommunications network to cause the computer server to perform acomparison of the request data with historical data from an at least oneprevious request and commerce good authenticity is verified.
 12. Amethod for tracking products in commerce, the method comprising thesteps of: generating a QR code comprising an encoded URL, wherein theencoded URL comprises a protocol identifier, a resource name, and atop-level domain, wherein the top-level domain is associated with aproduct certificate authority; certifying, through the productcertificate authority, an authenticity of an artifact located at theencoded URL; affixing the QR code to a product; receiving into a servera request to access an artifact located on the server, wherein theserver is in logical connection with a communications network andcomprises a processor, a memory storing the artifact, and softwareexecutable on command, and wherein the request comprises a notificationthat a smart device in logical communication with the communicationsnetwork has accessed the encoded URL via the communications network;performing a comparison of data from the request with historical datafrom an at least one previous request; and tracking the product based onthe comparison of the data from the request.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the QR code further comprises a universal unique identifierassociated with the product.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein theuniversal unique identifier is a global trade item number.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising the step of associating theuniversal unique identifier with a manufacturer website.
 16. The methodof claim 15, further comprising the step of: associating a receipt intothe server of the request to access the artifact with a time index andthe universal unique identifier.
 17. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising the step of generating a log of time indexes associated withthe universal unique identifier.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein thestep of receiving into the server a request to access an artifactfurther comprises receiving into the server a geographical index basedon the request, and wherein the geographical index is associated withthe time index and the universal unique identifier.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, further comprising the step of transmitting from the server toa smart device a counterfeit notification based on a comparison ofdifferences in the time indexes in the log and differences in thegeographical indexes in the log.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein thegeographical index is based on geographical information associated witha scan of the QR code.